Springnet 441 - Not Just a Game - Dave Zirin -4

springnet

Description

Dave Zirin the Rachel Maddow of sports commentators brought a free screening of his documentary film "Not Just a Game" to the North American Society for Sport History ( #nassh) conference at the AT&T Center in Austin on Sunday May 29. Dave Zirin is the bestselling author of five books the sports editor of The Nation magazine (the only one ever in 150 years) and the host of Sirius XM Satellite's weekly show Edge of Sports Radio. He blogs at The Edge of Sports http://edgeofsports.com
Dave has been called the best sports writer ever as well as the most controversial. He loves the Mets Jets Wizards and Mystics. And he loves to venture in to topics considered taboo off limits and out of bounds like race religion politics discrimination culture war and peace and prejudice.
In the documentary screened at the event Zirin illustrates how sports (far from being "just a game") have been at the center of the issues of our times. Zirin shows how sports have romanticized homophobia sexism racism and militarism and how some athletes have stood up for the social issues of their time (Mohammed Ali Billy Jean King John Carlos etc)
You have to really dig around to find out what events are going on at the AT&T Center in Austin because you won't find them on the AT&T Center's website where they are never publicized and you usually find them after the fact (like through Jon Lebkowsky's live twitter blogging) but I'm glad I set up a google alert for "AT&T Center" and got the email notice just in time to see this terrific free film and talk by Dave Zirin.